Time spent in prior hospital stay and outcomes for ventilator patients in long-term acute care hospitals.

Background: Long-term acute care hospitals (LTACHs) treat mechanical ventilator patients who are difficult to wean and expected to be on mechanical ventilator for a prolonged period. However, there are varying views on who should be transferred to LTACHs and when they should be transferred. The purpose of this study is to assess the relationship between length of stay in a short-term acute care hospital (STACH) after endotracheal intubation (time to LTACH) and weaning success and mortality for ventilated patients discharged to an LTACH.

Determinants of Hip and Knee Replacement: The Role of Social Support and Family Dynamics.

The objective of this study was to examine variations in the determinants of joint replacement (JR) across gender and age, with emphasis on the role of social support and family dynamics. We analyzed data from the US Health and Retirement Study (1998-2010) on individuals aged 45 or older with no prior receipt of JR. We used logistic regression to analyze the probability of receiving knee or hip replacement by gender and age (<65, 65+).

Hospital patients with severe wounds: early evidence on the impact of Medicare payment changes on treatment patterns and outcomes.

Aims: This study examines the effects of recent changes in Medicare long-term care hospital (LTCH) payments on treatment patterns and outcomes for severe wound patients discharged from short-term acute care hospitals (STACHs).

Materials And Methods: The rolling implementation of a new Medicare payment policy was used to develop a difference-in-difference model. The study population consisted of Medicare beneficiaries subjected to the payment policy changes and hospitalized for stage 3, 4, or unstageable wounds; non-healing surgical wounds; and fistula.

Identifying Poor-Performing Hospitals in the Medicare Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program: An Assessment of Reliability.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) estimated that Medicare's Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program (HAC-RP) would reduce hospital payments by $364 million in fiscal year 2016. Although observers have questioned the validity of certain HAC-RP measures, less attention has been paid to the determination of low-performing hospitals (bottom quartile) and the reliability of penalty assignment. This study used publicly available data from CMS's Hospital Compare to simulate the consistency of hospitals' scores and the assignment of penalties under repeated measurement with no change in each hospital's underlying quality.

Complication Rates, Hospital Size, and Bias in the CMS Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program.

In 2016, Medicare's Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program (HAC-RP) will reduce hospital payments by $364 million. Although observers have questioned the validity of certain HAC-RP measures, less attention has been paid to the determination of low-performing hospitals (bottom quartile) and the assignment of penalties. This study investigated possible bias in the HAC-RP by simulating hospitals' likelihood of being in the worst-performing quartile for 8 patient safety measures, assuming identical expected complication rates across hospitals.